Transjakarta Busway

The Transjakarta Busway (known locally as 'busway' or 'Tije') is modern, has air-conditioning and is generally comfortable. It was launched in January 2004, so some of the original buses are starting to show their age.

Unlike Jakarta's other buses, Busway vehicles shuttle on fully dedicated lanes and passengers must use dedicated stations and shelters with automatic doors. These shelters are made from aluminum, steel and glass, and can get hot during peak hours. Respite from the heat is offered at many shelters where the automatic doors are broken and left permanently open.

The Busway routes run along the middle of large thoroughfares connected to both sides by overhead bridges. The system is remarkably user-friendly by Jakarta standards, with pre-recorded station announcements and an LED display inside the purpose-built vehicles. These features are often broken in older Transjakarta buses.

Buses run from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day. Tickets cost a flat Rp 2,000 before 7am and Rp 3,500 after. Transfers between lines are free. The buses can get very crowded, especially during rush hours starting at 7am and 4pm, when office workers are on the move.

The buses are generally crowded and the service can be erratic. At certain times, buses may be driven past empty as the driver and/or the bus need servicing and refueling. Unusually for public transport in Indonesia, up to 30% of the Busway drivers are women.

When boarding, be very careful of the gap and mind the crowd, which is usually pushing, shoving and barring your way. Accidents have happened.

There are 12 lines, or 'corridors', operational as of February 2014 and three more lines are in the planning or construction phase. The Busway does sometimes 'beat the traffic' but only when traffic police keep regular motorists and motorcyclists out of the Busway lanes.

Tickets

Tickets for the Busway do no favors for the forests. They are unfeasibly large. Upon receiving your ticket, hand it to a guard at the turnstiles. He will tear off the perforated section and give you the remainder. You can then throw this in a bin, as there are no ticket inspectors on the Busway (it's a different matter on the trains).

Usually there are no queues at Busway ticket counters, apart from during rush hours, when there may be a long line of commuters. Frustratingly, there is only one ticket seller, except at the main terminals. When stuck in the ticket queue, you can watch three near-empty buses pass by, while people in front of you fumble for correct change or pay with a Rp 50,000 note and wait for change.

Since 2013, the Busway has offered electronic tickets, which can be purchased only from the following banks: DKI, Mandiri, BRI, BCA, BNI46 and Mega. The cost of the “smart card” depends on the issuing bank. It can be topped up via ATMs and e-banking. To use the smart card, you need to 'tap' it for a few seconds on the front part of a turnstile gate marked 'tempel di sini'. The advantage of the smart card is that you can avoid the ticket queues.

Busway etiquette

Passengers wishing to enter a bus are supposed to stand back or to the side of entrance doors to allow alighting passengers to get off first. This courtesy may be observed if a guard is present, but all too often there is frantic pushing and shoving from people trying to enter the bus. If you are attempting to exit a bus and someone impatiently barges toward you, you have two options: get out of their way; or stand your ground and walk straight into them. You should always be polite and avoid deliberately knocking people over.

You should give up your seat for a pregnant woman, a woman with a baby or an elderly person. Many seated passengers ignore this etiquette by pretending to sleep.

In 2012, the operators of most Busway corridors began segregating male and female passengers, with women in the front of the bus and men at the back. This was in response to complaints from some female passengers about being groped by male passengers.